Binary Mergers in Tertiary-induced Channel

The detections of gravitational waves (GWs) from merging binary black holes (BHs) have motivated many studies on the dynamical formation of such compact black hole binaries (BHBs). Recent works have suggested that tertiary-induced merger via Lidov–Kozai (LK) oscillations may play a significant role in producing the BHBs detected by the LIGO/VIRGO collaboration. I will talk about the dynamics of merging compact binaries near a rotating supermassive black hole (SMBH) in a hierarchical triple configuration, including various general relativistic (GR) effects. I will show that these GR effects significantly increase the merger fraction of BHBs and produce a wide range of spin orientations when the BHB enters LIGO band. I will also discuss the hierarchical BH mergers in multiple systems, focusing on the constraints on the formation of GW190412, GW190814 and GW190521-like events.